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“Then it’s definitely about Tucker.” Polly glances over at me. “What happened?”
“We’re not talking about him.”
“You two looked pretty cozy on Saturday,” Emma continues. “And I saw the way he was barely holding himself in check, like he wanted to pick you up and run away with you.”
“Whatever,” I mutter, refusing to take the bait, even as my stomach tingles.
“Is it because your ex and his are together?”
“Wait!” Polly hisses. “He’s the guy who was married to the woman Bowie cheated on you with?”
“One and the same,” Emma says unhelpfully.
“Oh shit.”
“So, what happened?” Emma asks, and I glare at her. “You’d probably feel better if you talk about it instead of keeping it all locked up.”
“Fine.” I place the last foil in Lizzy’s hair, then slip off my gloves and shove them in the trash. “I don’t know what happened. Or I do know what happened, because he kissed me, then just like that, it was done, and I could tell he was upset about the fact that he kissed me. So now I’m no longer interested in men, because it’s become glaringly apparent they are all idiots.”
“He kissed you?” Emma’s eyes widen.
“Yes.” I sigh.
“He probably feels weird about it, because your ex and his are together,” Polly says.
“No.” Lizzy shakes her head, and I meet her gaze in the mirror. “You said he was stoic.” She glances at Emma, who nods. “I bet you he’s one of those guys with a tortured past who has a fear of being hurt or hurting someone else.”
“Oh, I like that idea better,” Emma says like this is a book and she’s trying to figure out a main male character.
“You need to make him jealous,” Lizzy adds, and I frown at her. “Trust me, if he’s into you, he’ll get over whatever is preventing him from making a move the second he sees you with another man.”
“Did you miss the part where I’m not interested in him nor the rest of the male species?”
“Lie to yourself if you want, but he’s obviously gotten under your skin.” She smirks, and if she weren’t a client, I would totally tell her off. Heck, I’m half-tempted to leave the bleach on her hair a few minutes longer than I should.
“Well then, this is going to work out perfectly. You can go out with the guy Eli wants you to meet,” Emma says happily.
“You do realize that even if I went along with this ridiculous plan, which I’m not going to, Tucker wouldn’t have a clue that I was out on a date with someone, so the whole thing is, again, ridiculous.”
“Fine. He won’t know, but I still think you should start dating again,” Emma says, not giving up.
“I just got divorced. I don’t need to start dating. Also, I’m pretty sure there is an unwritten rule about not dating too soon after getting out of a long-term relationship.”
“I started dating Howard right after I divorced ‘he who shall not be named,’” Polly says, then adds, “It was the best decision of my life.”
“There’s only one Howard, Polly,” I say, and everyone, including our clients, nod in agreement, because they all know her husband. He’s not always around, but when he does show up, it’s to bring in lunch, coffee, flowers, or just to check on Polly during the day and steal a kiss. He’s the kindest man I’ve ever met in my life and better than any man I know.
“This is true,” she agrees, “but I also agree with Emma. I think you should start dating, and I don’t mean sleeping around or even sharing the most important parts of your life with a man. I just mean you should open yourself up to the universe placing your very own Howard in your path.”
Studying her, I think about my life and what I want. I know it’s not hip or cool, because woman power and all that, but I do want a man. Maybe not today, but eventually, I’d like to find someone to spend time with, someone to just hold me at the end of a long day. I miss that, and I know I want to have that again at some point.
Not sure if I’m making the right decision, I look at Emma and let out a long breath. “Okay, I’ll meet Eli’s friend.”
“Really?” she asks, sounding completely surprised.
“It took Polly forty-four years to find Howard, so I might as well start looking now, then maybe by the time Kingston goes off to college, I’ll find Mr. Right.”
“Well, okay then.” She beams at me. “I’ll have Eli set it up.”
“Great.” I don’t beam back at her. Honestly, I can’t even force a smile as I fight the urge to take back my words. Going on a date doesn’t scare me, but the knot in my stomach that is screaming at me that I’m doing something wrong has me second-guessing my decision.
